My throttle sticks in very cold weather (I'm in Yellowknife, so it's very common to have steady -30s for several weeks). Not only is this not too good for the engine in general, but it is also very dangerous. In fact I almost crashed into the Ford dealer's garage yesterday trying to stop the vehicle with the engine revving at 4,000 rpm! Luckily, nobody was in my way, but it was a scary experience with a vehicle of this size. There is a Ford TSB (#012112) confirming that this condition exists on few vehicle, and the fix is to install a heated PVC kit to replace the original. If the vehicle is still under basic warranty, no problem. If it isn't, like mine at 66,000 km, then you're out for about a $1,000 repair bill. So far the dealer has refused to cover the repair for me, even if I bought the vehicle less than a month ago, with Extracare ESP. Any advice or suggestion would be appreciated. If anyone has the TSB, I would appreciate a copy via email if possible.

Philippe
Yellowknife NT

 

To follow up on my previous message about throttle sticking, this has nothing to do with the issue of "sudden acceleration" discussed in other messages on this forum. This is a problem known to the Ford dealer that affect only a few vehicles (Expy, F-150s, etc.) but that it is still fairly common, and they have indeed issued a TSB. The cause is moisture condensing and freezing, causing the throttle to stick. The dealer's service manager agrees, at least in private with me, that there is a safety issue and that there should be more than a TSB and perhaps a recall, but they can't afford to foot the nearly $900 bill (neither can I!) and Ford Canada hasn't moved in that direction yet. I am wondering if Ford US has done anything. I'm sure someone up in Alaska, where it is as cold as up here, has experienced this problem.

Philippe
Yellowknife

 

I certainly don't have to worry down here in Houston, although it is supposed to freeze tonight (29 degrees).

You might want to go to Ford's website and see what you can find with respect to Ford's customer service policies and options. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Good Luck.

 

Well, Ford Canada got back to me with a negative answer. According to them, there are not enough cases documented to warrant a recall based on a safety defect, despite the service manager agreeing with me that the problem is real on some vehicles and that the solution is to upgrade the original part with a revised one, as per the TSB. Now I'm stuck with the bill. This is my first Ford vehicle and I chose Ford after spending quite a bit of time looking at all automakers, and my conclusions were that Ford cared about their customers, but now in my book, this company really sucks.

Philippe
Yellowknife

 

Although I think your situation really bites, I feel obligated to play the Devil's advocate (for once). If there aren't that many cases of TB sticking because of the cold, then Ford really can't be liable for it - it's not really a defect in their product, but actually a "defect" in your environment. I think it's pretty shady that this magical fix costs almost $1000. On the flipside, with your ESP, they should cover something . I've decided that unless my tranny/engine explodes, I'm not going to fix it on the ESP, because it's more than likely not covered. As far as this heated PCV assembly goes, does the problem go away once the truck's warmed up? I would think that, regardless of most environments, the underhood temperatures should be relatively tropical once everything's heated up. Sounds kinda pricey to me - I would think that it's just some sort of heating element that comes on with the ignition. Not worth $1000. If my broke *** were in your situation, I'd probably try going with a hotter thermostat - that will raise the ambient underhood temperature a wee bit. Every little bit helps Seeing as how the PCV system is connected to the engine, I don't understand how it would be freezing, unless you're out in the yukon (ever read "To Build A Fire?" )

Best of luck to you!

XXL

 

It is as cold as the Yukon up here! Today, at -26 Celsius, if feels almost balmy compared to lower -40s last week! Most trucks on the road here are actually F-150s or F-based like the Expedition. The local dealer even sells them as far as Resolute Bay and Grise Fjord, way above the Arctic Circle where average winter temps are quite colder than those in Yellowknife.

I too don't understand how the upgraded part and installation can be that expensive but that's the way it is. As you guessed, the contraption brings heat to the throttle/pcv via a small hose connected from the engine hearing/cooling system. I guess there are a few homemade solutions that would be a lot cheaper (I have a somewhat similar problem with a Weber carb on my 1972 VW van that can be easily and cheaply fixed by using the airbox of a Ford Tempo that fits perfectly). According to the dealer's Service Manager, the problem has been known to them and reported to Ford Canada since the first of these engines were produced 5 years ago, but it took Ford 5 years to acknowledge the problem and issue a TSB identifying the issues and corrective measures. In the meantime, the basic warranty on the older vehicles expired and owners are stuck with the repair bill. I don't know why, but from my own experience, it doesn't make a difference whether you let the engine warm up for a long time or not, or if you drive it until it reaches operating temperature. Maybe after an hour of driving around, any ice buildup in the throttle would disappear, but that is not a solution and at $1 a litre for fuel up here, who can afford to do that anyways. Ford hasn't issued a recall yet, but if enough of us up here in the Arctic who drive F-series trucks and SUVs report the problem and put some pressure on our dealer, there may be some hope of a recall soon.

Philippe
Yellowknife
1999 Expedition 4x4, 5.4l
1972 VW Transporter

 

Here's something you could do - take one of the heater hoses that connects to the heater core, and run some sort of splitter. Route the new house around the PCV assembly, essentially wrapping it in heater hose that will be pumping hot coolant. Then run it back into the cooling system somehow. Then you basically have a hose, that will be hot, wrapped around the pcv assembly, which should warm the air inside and keep everything nice and toasty. The same way a heater core works, except without the core - the temperature of the heater hose should suffice. If you want a longer explanation, let me know - I'm feeling lazy.

EDIT: Then wrap the whole thing in something that insulates - like header wrap, to maximize heating.

XXL